Private home-style dishes in Xingtian Temple’s alleys – Exquisite cuisine rivaling festive feasts

Text and photos byHappy Yun

2014 is coming to an end, and lately, Yun seems to have been quite lucky with food. Friends have been inviting her out for meals, and each time has brought delightful surprises!! Last Friday noon, armed with an address from a friend, she met up for a lunch feast at "Aojia Yan" near Xingtian Temple MRT Station. Hmm… the address seemed a bit tricky to find.

According to the directions sent by her friend: Exit 4 of Xingtian Temple MRT Station, turn right, then right again, and then right once more; in other words, it’s right behind the exit. Eh~~~ Is this it?? There’s a small sign for "Aojia Yan" – yes, that’s right. But from the outside, it clearly looks like a residential house, and there are cars parked at the entrance, with the metal gate wide open…. So… is this really the place we’re having lunch today, “Aojia Yan”?? Does it look too much like visiting a friend’s home??

It reminded Yun of the times she visited the homes of veterans in the military dependents’ villages with her mother as a child. Is this… really a legendary old shop in Taipei, a "private kitchen"?? As she walked through the metal gate, she immediately saw a large round table in front of her. Is this a restaurant? A snack shop? Or like a family gathering around the living room table for a New Year’s meal??
For a moment, everything felt a bit out of sync. Yun felt this place was nothing like Taipei, and scenes from several hours later even flashed before her eyes!! What a magical place, like a hidden gourmet spot from a Japanese manga, making Yun eagerly await the moment she could pick up her chopsticks and dig in.

First to arrive were the appetizers – familiar and unpretentious small dishes;

Just like the bean curd strips and kelp one would see in the first few takeout meals as a kid – so simple, with straightforward flavors.

There was also Taiwanese-style pickled vegetables with a sweet and sour taste that really stimulated the appetite.

These simple side dishes kicked off the luncheon. The boss’s special-made pressed tofu was flavorful and chewy – delicious!! Even during this time when people are sensitive about tofu, the boss specifically mentioned it was high-quality tofu sourced from a trusted supplier.

There was also the shop’s signature chili sauce, containing small fish and dried shrimp, both fragrant and spicy, with an exclusive recipe – truly delicious!! It made Yun wish for a bowl of plain noodles or vermicelli to go with it!! (The chili sauce is for sale – 250 TWD per bottle, 480ml capacity, limited stock, please call ahead to reserve.)

Wow!! The first dish was crab porridge!! This… reminded Yun of her trip to Macau this month – crab porridge isn’t something you come across often in Taiwan!! The porridge still had visible rice grains, cooked with seasonal crabs (today’s were from Kinmen).

The delicious flavors melded into the porridge. It may seem simple, but the difference between good and bad is huge!! Could it be that the owner of Aojia Yan isn’t Taiwanese but from Macau? Just as Yun was wondering, a new friend she met that day said: the boss, Uncle Ouyang Wu, is from Macau…

With the addition of deep-fried dough sticks, scallions, and pepper to the crab porridge – wow!! So… delicious!! Without realizing it, she had eaten two or three bowls!! Next time she knows – if she wants crab porridge in Taiwan, she can come here to find it.

Next came the tomato beef double treasure. From the moment the boss brought it out, it smelled amazing, absolutely incredible!! So fragrant that Yun couldn’t wait to finish taking photos before digging in with her spoon!! Since Yun doesn’t eat innards, she didn’t have the beef tripe. But by the time the platter made a round, the tripe was almost all gone – it must have been incredibly tasty!! Yun had the beef with tendons, which was stewed until extremely tender and soft – absolutely delicious, perfect for the elderly too.

Shrimp vermicelli = ???? … it reminded Yun of a dish she’d seen at banquet tables in the past!! When the boss brought out the clay pot and lifted the lid, a burst of aroma and steam poured out. The vermicelli, soaked in rich broth, must have been thoroughly infused with flavor!! She scooped some into her bowl and took a bite – the noodles were full of flavor, and the dry-fried shrimp were incredibly fresh and delicious.
What was particularly thoughtful was that the boss seemed to have cut the vermicelli shorter, making it much easier for everyone to scoop up!!

Eight Treasures Duck – just looking at it made it clear this was a complex and skillful dish, requiring advance booking of the duck, and even hopes for different sizes. Glutinous rice, chestnuts, lotus seeds, peanuts… were all stuffed inside the duck, which needed to be marinated for about a day before cooking. This dish has to be ordered in advance – no chance if you just show up wanting it!! It was so fragrant it was irresistible, with the soft glutinous rice and duck meat. Though it looked like it might be heavy on the flavors, it was surprisingly not greasy or overly salty. One bite led to another – absolutely delicious!!

Seeing how everyone was enjoying the meal and the dishes on the table, the boss suddenly decided to stir-fry some greens. Soon after, the sounds of a fierce fire and clattering wok came from the kitchen, and before long, glossy pea sprouts arrived on the table!! Meals should be balanced – with meat, and with greens.

Think we’ve had enough?? Perhaps because she’d overindulged on the crab porridge earlier, Yun was already feeling pretty full!! Then the boss brought out a large clay pot!! What… is this??

Wild Ganoderma lucidum chicken soup – wow!! Such a big pot, perfect for the chilly Taipei weather. This was probably the most… suited-to-her-taste dish of the day. To be honest, Yun doesn’t usually like chicken soup, and she only intended to have a small sip to try it. But before she knew it, she had finished three bowls.

The black-bone chicken meat was stewed until incredibly tender – it could be cut apart with chopsticks, and it wasn’t greasy, nor did it have the traditional Chinese medicine taste Yun had disliked since childhood. It’s said to be the most popular festive dish at Aojia Yan. Boss Ouyang Wu stews it in small batches. Yun really wanted to book a pot to take home as a festive dish!!

More dishes kept coming!! Next up was “Steamed Wild Red Stripe Fish” – the lines on this fish were so cute!! Its tail was sticking up high – so adorable!! The fish skin wasn’t just thick – it was packed with collagen!! Wow!! Good for the skin, time to eat more!! When it came to the fish meat, it was even more surprising – the flesh was springy yet incredibly delicate, paired with simple scallions and sauce – delicious!! Boss Ouyang Wu said that because the fish was so fresh, its tail would stand up like that after steaming. Not sure if it’s true or just a joke, but she’ll look into it next time – what kind of fish is this exactly??

Three-cup pig’s trotters – the trotters were QQQ (chewy), full of collagen, hahaha…. Two dishes in a row for beauty and skin? The preparation here made the trotters delicious without being greasy, with a QQQ texture that was quite appealing. It got everyone who had just claimed they were too full to eat any more to have another piece, then another – hahaha… it felt like a dish you’d get when visiting someone’s home during Chinese New Year.

Today’s lunch was really too filling, way too much. The deliciousness made some friends say they were glad they’d started eating lightly since last night in preparation for today’s meal. Others regretted skipping breakfast because they’d eaten too late. Yun herself was suddenly grateful she hadn’t eaten too much breakfast, but no matter how full she’d been earlier, the dishes the boss served were all so tempting that she couldn’t help but pick up her chopsticks and keep eating.

She was even worried there might be more dishes when she heard the sizzling sounds from the kitchen!! The final dish was fish juice baked egg – made using the juice from that tail-up fish. Wow!! So simple, but how could this final dish be so delicious!! Hahaha, as the serving plate went around, even the overly full group polished it off!!

Happy ending – fruit!! Today’s dishes had such a homey feel, like visiting someone’s home. Today it felt like dropping by a master chef’s residence, reminding Yun of a former colleague whose family meals felt just like this – as if the head chef had been invited home. It turned out to be amazing moms all along!! Today at Aojia Yan, Yun tasted so much homely goodness, and in the cuisine, she experienced skill and care – it was simply… so satisfying!!

Today’s meal was for ten people at one table, costing 10,000 TWD, averaging out to 1,000 TWD per person. For such deliciousness, with genuinely fresh ingredients and the skills of a master chef, it was such great value!! It’s hard to categorize what kind of cuisine this was. It’s said that Boss Ouyang Wu’s dishes originate from Shunde, Guangdong, with creative adaptations. A friend mentioned that Shunde, Guangdong, is known as the land of “master chefs” and “maids”! It reminded Yun of the winning porridge she had in Macau this month, which also came from “Shunde, Guangdong.” It instantly piqued her curiosity about this place – she really should visit someday if given the chance.

Today’s private kitchen dining at Ou Family Feast was a delightful surprise—I was so pleasantly full and satisfied!!

Ou Family Feast Private Kitchen Restaurant
Address: No. 21, Lane 7, Alley 92, Section 2, Minquan East Road, Taipei City
(Exit 4 of Xingtian Temple MRT Station; turn right, then right again, and right once more—that is, directly behind the exit)
Phone: (02)2571-9283, 0920-579-977
Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/pages/%E6%AD%90%E5%AE%B6%E5%AE%B4/180725705296765
Blog: http://oujiayan.blogspot.tw/

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